I’m going to try something new with regards to reviewing anime. I’m not sure if it will work or not but it will certainly be worth a go. =)

SYNOPSIS

Mochizuki General Hospital has the most skilled nurses in town. Inside the hospital, the nurses heal their patients, but outside the hospital, they battle a different kind of “cancer.” These “cancers” are groups of mafias and other evil organisations who threaten the health and wellbeing or society. It is up to the well-trained nurses and recently recruited teenagers to remove these “cancers” once and for all…

I do like the concept of this show as I feel it has a deep meaning, especially the metaphors. Basically, I see it as a metaphor where society is often referred as the human body.

In the actual hospital, the nurses treat the patients on all levels. However, when they’re not in hospital they get sent on missions and work as assassins to take out the evil people who cannot be redeemed. These evil people are referred to as “cancers” as they are spreading the wickedness throughout society and it is up to the nurses to get rid of these “cancers.” If they’re coloured “black” then they are beyond redemption but if they are coloured “red” than they can be redeemed.

The nurses, Yuuko, Hitsugi and Miki, are all part of the Ampule Zero group. A new group was formed in the Mochizuki General Hospital in the form of Ampule One. This new group consists of young idol Oriha and high school students, Arashi and Mikoto.

Whilst I like the meaning and concept behind this show I did find it very confusing at times. There were even times when I didn’t know or understand what was going on. In some of the episodes I had to re-watch them a few times to grasp the situation. Sometimes I only understood what actually happened when I watched the latter episodes of the series.

The D99 drug was especially confusing. At first I thought Dr Mochizuki brought Arashi back to life with healing hands he just used the D99 vaccine to safe him. He added his dying son’s limbs into the mix to patch Arashi up. I thought Arashi was the only one who survived the D99 vaccine, but as it turns out, it saved the likes of Hitsugi as well. I think it said right at the end that the D99 could have saved the other children of the Triage, I.E., Mikoto and Oriha. I’m somewhat confused about that part.

I really did like the fighting scenes as they were among my favourite things of this anime. All the Triage fighters have unique and varied styles that could compensate for the weakness of their fellow companions.

One of my favourite fighters is Yuuko, and it isn’t because she’s a pretty face as all the girls in this show have pretty faces. Yuuko is my favourite because she is awesome and deadly. Her swordsmanship is badass and exciting to watch. My favourite moment was when she sliced that car in half. Then again, I also enjoyed the way she sliced the walls to escape. I actually think she’s probably the strongest fighter in the whole show as I didn’t see any weakness in her. I would have liked to see her fight Goryu as I reckon she’ll give her a good fight.

I can’t fail to notice the amount of female skin that has been exposed but what captivated me more was the development of the characters and their bonds. I think Arashi is an intriguing individual. I was confused as to why there was a boy standing next to him but I figured out eventually that it’s all part of his consciousness. It’s like he’s having a mental battle with himself. Does he decide his cause of action or is Ryu pulling the strings and dominating Arashi’s mind? So far it looks like Arashi is controlling his mind well. =)

I really liked Hitsugi’s development. Arashi is probably the ultimate main character of the show and so I figured all the development will focus on him, Mikoto and Oriha. For the first part of the series, I was right. However, I come to learn about Hitsugi’s sudden past which involved Arashi during his rehab. I learned that she had a beautiful bond with him. They share a beautiful bond due to their affection for one another and have similar experiences when it comes to being a “survivor”. It made sense why she was wearing that mask in fights, but, ever since her duel with Arashi she no longer veiled her face. She was already a durable tank when she was fighting, yet, as soon as she lost her mask it seemed like she grew much stronger. Hitsugi grew on me as a character from episode eight onwards.

The romance hints was a bit unexpected. I knew straightaway that Mikoto and Hinako harbour affection towards Arashi to the point of crushes and love, but I never suspected at all that Hitsugi would come to love Arashi. I certainly never expected her to kiss Arashi too. Even though I found that surprising I found it more cute and touching.

The bond and relationship between Mikoto and Chikage was unique. They were friends at school but had to be enemies on the battlefield. It was rather sad when Chikage threw herself into the flames as it would have been nice for Mikoto to have a friend outside of her assassin colleagues. Still, Arashi made everything better. He’s not the most romantic person you would ever come across but he says all the right things at the right time.

All the villains I think were appropriate for a show like Triage X as they were either supremely strong in battle or are insane. I thought Syringe and Kyoji’s family were associated with each other, but it turns out that they’re both separate organisations. I didn’t really like any of the villains from this show, but I especially didn’t like Kyoji. I didn’t like the way he treated the ladies, especially his own servants and bodyguard, Goryu. I thought Goryu was the honour bound type and did have some good side to her but my opinion of her did waver a bit when she interrogated poor Suzue.

Speaking of Suzue brings me appropriately to Inspector Tatara. In the first couple of episodes I thought Inspector Tatara was going to be an Inspector Clueso type of character when something goes wrong whenever he’s around. Haha. I couldn’t really take him seriously at first as I felt that he was just useless. However, I came to respect him more when he took a back seat and didn’t get involved in the serious missions.

I really enjoyed Triage X, so much so that I’m slightly tempted to purchase the manga books. I was engaged with certain parts of the show like the fighting scenes and touching scenes. However, there were also times where I felt slightly underwhelmed with the pace and flow. It’s always a challenge to try and squeeze all of the manga material into ten episodes so I try to look at the bigger picture.

If this show does get a greenlight for a second season I would like to learn more about Miki and Yuuko as I’m curious to learn how Ampule Zero was formed.

I need to make one final shout out to the video of the ending song. I really enjoyed watching Mikoto riding that bike. I know she’s wearing a bikini and all and the video highlights that but for some reason I find it relaxing to watch. Perhaps it’s because of the music? Whatever the reason, I just enjoy watching it. =)

I did wonder how this would work out by attaching the thoughts of each Triage X episode into this review. I must say that I actually like it. I’m not going to do this for every single anime that I watch but I would do this kind of system again. It’s a pretty fun system to get used to. =)

Admittedly I was expecting more of a conclusion to the current story/plot as it was the final episode. It was a fun episode to watch but I do feel slightly underwhelmed as I feel that there are still a lot of situations that haven’t been resolved. Arashi said it right at the end, when he said that nothing has been resolved. Is this a hint perhaps that Xebec are going to produce a second season in the future?

I wonder why this show had ten episodes. Producing half a season is one thing, but they didn’t even do twelve episodes, they did ten. The manga have sold more than ten books in Japan. I haven’t read the manga but I do imagine that with the amount of volume books that they released I reckon that at least 20 episodes could have been produced. I sort of get the impression by the flow of the episodes that a lot of materials from the manga have not been animated. I could be wrong but that’s what my instincts are telling me.

I’ll talk more about the show itself in my overall review, but for now, I’ll just focus on the episode itself.

I’m pleased to know that Suzue is not in danger. I wonder when she will recover. It was quite humorous when Hinako and co were talking about girls getting abducted. It’s as if they thought of them as horror stories. It’s interesting to see Hinako talking about the possibility of alien abducting beautiful women to create a harem. Of course it’s all fantasy within a fantasy but I do wonder how she would feel if Arashi decided to have his own harem. Would she “share” him willingly? For now I think that’s out of the equation as I don’t think Arashi is interested in romance, let alone a harem.

Speaking of romance, it was rather amusing to see Hitsugi banter with Mikoto about going after Arashi. Mikoto was very slow to understand what Hitsugi was talking about. I’m not sure if I should feel daft or not but I think I’m beginning to understand more things. It seems like Mikoto and Hitsugi both had the D99 drug in them as well as Arashi. Up until now I thought Arashi was the only one who had the D99 drug to survive death.

I would have liked to see what happened to Kyoji and Goryu afterwards. I really thought that they were going to be on the receiving end of those mind broken ladies. It appears that they’re running all over town and becoming urban legends. Plus, there’s that sudden situation with Miki and Inunaki. I’m a bit gutted for Miki as I would have liked to see more of her.

I’m glad I got to see Hinako. It was cute when that top part of her hair was swaying in jubilation at the thought of going to the cinema with Arashi.

I really liked that little skit at the end when Arashi chased down that dealer. The first thing I would have done to slow the man down was shoot the tires in his car. However, Arashi shot that gas thing which somehow managed to slow the car down. I don’t really understand the mechanisms of cars but I do know that Arashi managed to slow the car down through accurate shooting. Still, he looked really lonely when he was walking on that express runway. He must have been hot as well in that bike suit.

There was that part during the credits where, if I were to describe it, looks like a James Bond moment where a circle would follow him until he “shot” the camera. Haha. It looked like that. XD It looks like someone might be trying to shoot Arashi from a distance. I could be just reading into it but maybe that’s an indication of the next series, that is, if there is going to be another season of Triage X.

All in all I enjoyed watching this episode even if there are still things left to be resolved.

I was a little bit fooled at the beginning as I really thought Mikoto was captured without explanation and was made to wear a Princess Leia outfit. But as soon as Hitsugi and Hinako were sitting on Arashi’s lap I knew it was going to be a dream. I didn’t actually think Hitsugi would go after Arashi as I thought she just kissed him on the spur of the moment. Then again, it was only a dream so I won’t be too concerned about that, I just thought it was more humorous to see Mikoto all flustered. Haha. It was just as funny to see Hinako flustered at the thought of more competition over Arashi.

Hitsugi looked cool in her fight against those twins. Now that her conscious is clear she looks much stronger than she ever did in her previous battles. I did wonder if she was really going to kill those twins but it looks like that they managed to escape just in time. I wonder who this princess is.

Oops, it looks like Suzue has been injected with the Platinum Lily drug, but how bigger dose did she take, I wonder? I kind of figured that she would be up to something important as she was a target for Syringe and Tobishiro’s group. I’m not really certain what Suzue’s looking for. I know it’s something to do with this Public Server but for what reason?

I didn’t expect Gyoji to be ruthless with Suzue as well. I thought she was just a loyal soldier for Kyoji and doesn’t really show emotions but I saw a more confident and ruthless side to her. Did she insert the drug into herself and she changed personality or was she just playing bad/neutral cop? I also didn’t expect her to promise to “reward” her co-workers. I can’t make up my mind if she was out of character or not as I didn’t think she had it in her to be like that.

I bet Gyoji is going to get punished terribly. Not only did Arashi manage to save Suzue but those broken girls have escaped from that room and are now on the loose. I have a feeling that they’re all going to go straight to Kyoji and Gyoji and they’re all going to literally pile on them both.

It’s a shame that it’s the last episode next week as I have been enjoying this series. I wonder why it’s 10 and not 12.

I didn’t think that there was going to be a deep connection between Arashi and Hitsugi. I just assumed that Arashi just had a deep bond with Mikoto and Oriha as they’re all part of the Ampule One group and they’re similar age. I also assumed that Arashi and Hitsugi were merely acquaintances and that was that. How wrong I was. They go way back. Back to when Arashi was in rehab and that was when they first developed their bond.

Hitsugi had a pretty sad past and it makes a lot of sense why she wore that Shinto-type mask as it hid more than just her face. It shielded away her heart and emotions. As far as I can gather she went on that rampage because she was really upset and lost sense of herself. I kind of had an idea at the beginning that Arashi was going to be the one to stop Hitsugi’s rampage, and not Yuuko, who was the one that killed and saved her.

I was a bit shocked when Hitsugi locked lips with Arashi. I was somewhat spoiled before that there was kiss involved in this episode but I never would have thought that Hitsugi would be the one that steals Arashi’s first kiss. In a weird way I do think it was a sweet moment as it felt like Hitsugi has really let her troubled past go.

I’m actually pleased that this was a Hitsugi related episode as I felt like she wasn’t really that relevant despite being super strong. I actually feel that I know more about Inspector Tatara and Suzue than I did with Hitsugi. I learned in this episode that all the long she has a beautiful bond with Arashi. It makes me intrigue as to what Arashi’s relationship is like with Miki and Yuuko.

I get the impression that Suzue is going to be kidnapped soon. In the last episode Tatara mentioned that Suzue has been working hard doing some investigation. I wonder if Suzue’s investigation involves the Syringe group. Perhaps Syringe is planning to kidnap Suzue as she knows a lot about them? Perhaps they plan to kidnap Inspector Tatara. I’m not exactly certain what’s going on in that regard. I’ll find out soon enough, I’m sure. =)

Hohoho, so it turns out that this D99 virus/vaccine thing that Dr Mochizuki created is the reason that Arashi is alive. If Arashi was in that village that Dr Mochizuki visited then I would imagine that Arashi would be the ‘chosen one.’ Mikoto was lovely when she comforted Arashi. I think she’s beginning to understand him bit by bit, but I think Hinako still provides a healthy competition to Mikoto as far as romance is concerned.

I wonder how the group, Syringe, knew about this D99 drug thing. In the flash back it showed 5 people in silhouettes, but one person was indistinguishable. I bet that person is the one who revived that medical drug, perhaps enhancing it in his/her unique way.

It turns out that that shooter was Inunaki. Good job he isn’t a villain. Or is he? How did he know about the whole cargo information thing? I have a mini speculation… Perhaps Inunaki is somehow the one who brought back the D99 drug? Then again, what would he gain if he was a double agent for the enemy?

It seems like there was a three-way battle to gain the Platinum Lily drug. Syringe got one of the briefcases whilst Black Label got the other and Kyoji is left with no drug. They seem to be more than a match for Ampule Zero and appear to be much stronger than the likes of Arashi and Mikoto from Ampule One. I quite enjoyed the fights in this episode.

I’m disliking Kyoji more, especially with the way he treats the ladies. It makes me admire Goryu a lot. She is taking his abuse without complaining. I wonder how she would feel if Black Label got their hands on Kyoji. Would she be sad or be glad if he gets killed? Having said all that she looked nice in that maid outfit with cat ears.^^/

I was a little sad to see Hitsugi being beaten down like that but I really like the way Yuuko cut the floors quickly in order to get Hitsugi out of that situation. I wonder what happened to her right at the end. It’s as if she woke up with a different personality altogether. Eep.

I can’t help but wonder if the comedy parts were inappropriate in this episode. I do always appreciate comedy moments, especially when they involve Oriha. However, I do think some of them moments did undermine the seriousness of the overall situation. Especially when you consider the fact that many people died and one of Oriha’s good friends, Aya, was shot and killed at point blank range. I’m glad she managed to avenge Aya’s death with the help of Mikoto and Arashi. I’m glad there were comedy moments but it probably would be more appropriate to leave them out of this episode.

That Wild Hunt person has a unique ability when it comes to hearing heartbeats. I’ll refer her as she as she was a lady but spoke with a man’s voice… it seems like she can mimic people’s voices and read their minds as well. I was correct with my guess that she was aware of the Black Label and was certainly aware of Oriha’s presence. Perhaps she wanted to use Oriha as bait to lure the rest of Black Label so she could take them all out.

I’m glad all the idols and the lady in the bunny outfit escaped death. It was somewhat humorous when the rest of the girls called her a ‘Grandma.’ I did enjoy that bit but I still think that too detracted from the seriousness of the situation. In that situation I would have thought that the other girls would be more desperate rather than being annoyed and name calling.

We find out at the end that Wild Hunt and the rest of the evil people were there to actually distract Black Label. This must mean that something bigger and more dangerous is going on.

Oh dear, that ending where it looks like Mikoto gets shot. Fingers crossed that she makes it out.

This was quite an intense episode. When I read the episode title “Idol Sacrifice” I assumed that something was going to happen to Oriha, but it turns out that it’s more than one idol being sacrificed.

I had some weird vibes from those mascots. From the get go I had a feeling that they were using their costumes as criminal disguises rather than fun props. Then, those disturbing scenes happened when those mascots killed that innocent man. It was a quite upsetting when that pretty girl got shot too.

It turns out that those evil mascot people are somehow connected with Ogawa Makoto and wanted to avenge him. I’m not sure if they know that Black Label is responsible but I get the feeling that they knew that Oriha was on the scene. That means that they probably knew as well that Oriha was going to be at that building in the evening and took the opportunity to try and take her down… maybe. That Wild Hunt dude, the evil leader, said that they’ve already accomplished his plan. What is that plan? Maybe he knew about the existence of Black Label after all and everything he’s doing is his way of sending a message. Or maybe he knew that Oriha was in the building after all and he shot the girl, Aya, as bait to draw her out.

I’m certainly interested to see what Oriha is capable of without her bombs. She managed to hold her own against that white haired man. I think it might have been a bit much of Oriha and Sumire to ask of Haron to do a karate move there and then, especially since she was frightened. I think Oriha will confront Wild Hunt and they will both have a brawl. In the meantime I think the police should now get a parachute so they can catch the idols when they’re forced to jump from the eighteenth floor.

On a side note, it was nice seeing Hinako again. It was great that Arashi took the time to go to Hinako’s restaurant and dine there, although not so great as Mikoto ended up being jealous. Haha.

THANKS FOR READING

I went to watch the last showing of Avengers: Age of Ultron tonight. As it was Election Day I assumed a lot of people would be out casting their votes. Luckily, it was a small crowd. I thought the film was amazing and the action was literally none stop. You will hear my views of the film in a day or two. =)

The cat’s finally out of the bag as Chikage has revealed herself to be the mysterious lady in the mask.

Haha, Inspector Tatara just doesn’t go away does he? This time he didn’t get involved in the action which I really think benefits him greatly. One of these days he’s going to get his own spin-off series from this show.

I think Mikoto did show some lack of experience, or naivety, when she attacked that wicked old man with a sword. It’s great that she’s so agile but people like that guy will always come up with contingency plans. I think she should have thought more about the situation first and be more observant of her own surroundings. There have been a few times now where she’s been surprised by people who suddenly make an appearance from the shadows.

I question Mikoto’s experience because if Sayuri was in her shoes she would be more aware of her surroundings and the wicked old man would be dead in a shot. Or, in Sayuri’s case, she would slice him faster than a shot. No pun intended.

Again, if I was Mikoto I would hop on my good leg as that way I would be faster. I somewhat sympathise with the situation of the civilians but I do think they would have been beyond redemption. For one they took part in some weird drugs and two it looked like there were going to do something rude to Mikoto before killing her. Thank goodness that Chikage got there in time. Who knows what would have happened.

I’m a bit puzzled how Mikoto was able to ride that bike. I know she can swing her hips and use her good leg but it still must be tricky to ride a bike with one leg not working.

I was sad when Chikage flew herself into the flames. It really did seem like she’s been corrupted by revenge and her “doctor” fed that revenge and used her for his own goal. I’m glad Mikoto got rid of him before he shot her. It’s interesting when he said that Chikage’s sister knew his true identity and that was the reason why he killed her with fire. The music was really sad as well. It was awesome. Well, not Chikage “dying” but the music and the scene. It was great when Arashi told Mikoto that they are not alone. I wonder if Chikage will be reborn into Dr Mochizuki’s hospital. I hope she does as Mikoto will be happy. =)

The show offers yet another puzzling question. Who is the real Ogawa Makoto? Judging by that piece of paper that Hijiri handed Inspector Tatara I seem to think he looks like Chikage’s “Doctor.” His appearance wasn’t very clear as he was covered in shadows. This Makoto chap seems to be important though, perhaps he’s going to become a catalyst? Perhaps Chikage’s “doctor” can change into different people and Makoto was one of them? So far I’m probably just grasping at straws as I don’t really know what’s going on. Haha.

Who is that green haired lady? Will we ever see the top half of her face?

I decided to create this blog to explain how I rank different anime. If you would like a reminder on how I rate shows just see the link here, “My Rating System.”

I don’t compare anime with each other I just rank them base on how I feel about them. For example, I would normally rate Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun with a One Thumb’s-Up, but as it has made me laugh a lot I bumped the show up to One Thumb’s-Up and a Pinky. There are some anime in the One Thumb’s-Up and a Pinky that I don’t like as much as the others. I like Gonna Be the Twin-Tail! and Cat Planet Cuties! more than The Testament of Sister New Devil. I like those shows more than One Thumb’s-Up, but not quite enough to give them two. As a compromise I’ve gone half way by giving One Thumb’s-Up and a Pinky.

I decided that I’m not necessarily going to review every single anime that I have watched or am currently watching. With some of them I don’t necessarily have anything to say except that “I think it was good” or “I thought that was ok.” I enjoyed the anime World Break: Aria Curse for a Holy Swordsman but I don’t really have anything to say about the show at this moment in time. I enjoyed it and I liked the concept of the characters remembering what they did in their past lives. However, I don’t have anything to say about it. I just liked it. I may write a review about it in the future but not anytime soon.

From now on when I review anime I will add the link of this blog to each one. I will put it under the conclusion heading of the review and right next to the “My Rating System” link. I don’t know if I will do a separate blog to list my ratings for manga, films and games. I’m happy at the moment just doing this.